


To Catch A King

by Operamuse



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 11:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11401461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Operamuse/pseuds/Operamuse
Summary: Longing to be Underground and with a king missing, Sarah Williams is ready to return sixteen years later. She must be clever and determined as she journeys through the Labyrinth once more in search of clues to track down the Goblin King. And as the denizens of the land repeat, things are not always what they seem and the king may be closer and more strange than before.





	To Catch A King

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I have been a huge Labyrinth fan for years but never felt the confidence to write fanfiction about it until recently. I hope you all get some entertainment out of my first attempt.  
> I welcome thoughts and constructive criticism my dears. Thank you!

Ch 1 Homesick  
Sarah dropped her keys off on the small table next to the front door, setting her messenger bag down as she scanned through her mail. It was Friday afternoon and she’d just finished giving a lecture to her graduate class on symbolism in Greek mythology.  
At 32 her life was a considerable success if she said so herself. It hadn’t been as easy as simply wishing hard and letting everything unfold. There was plenty of fight and effort on her part to get where she was at.  
She owned a cozy little bungalow a few blocks from campus, friends in her department and about town; not to mention a tall dark and handsome new professor of French literature who had slipped her his number just the other day.  
As she stepped into the kitchen to try and think up dinner ideas, her mind elsewhere. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy, not exactly. She’d led a good life but it felt as though she was waiting for something bigger.  
After her encounter in the Labyrinth she had returned home realizing at age sixteen that her entire life was ahead of her and she could take on anything. Her adventure had dared her to go for the things she wanted. She put herself out there for job, classes, and scholarships with vigor to take what she wanted from life and conquer it.  
But now she mused peering into her fridge at week old take out cartons and a half gallon of milk, it felt as though she had reached a gridlock in her life. It all felt…like she knew how the end of her story would go.  
She would teach. Maybe accept positions at different universities and see a bit more of the world. She didn’t know if she wanted marriage but knew she would never want for company. Her self-assurance had blossomed after feeling the attentions of a certain Goblin King and that new found confidence drew men to her like flies to honey.  
And yet…  
She huffed, shutting the door and deciding to order pizza and wash it down with a glass of milk and promised she’d splurge on a nice wine the next day.  
XX  
Even the grease of a good few slices of pizza didn’t help as she wiped off her hands and stared at the wall in her kitchen.  
She wanted more dammit! Not making head of her department, or taking a summer to go hiking in Tibet. The craving went beyond elevating her position or taking a temporary change of scenery.  
There was an itch and she didn’t know if it was something that she could ignore much longer. It demanded satisfaction and something she had turned her back on years ago.  
She missed The Underground badly. All those years ago when she’d defeated the Goblin King, she’d missed it too. It was why she couldn’t say goodbye to the friends she’d made there. They were a link to that magical world and one she hadn’t been able to let go of even as she moved on with her life.  
For a few weeks she’d tried to ignore her desire to return and finally she could bear it no more. She’d call on Hoggle and figure out what to do.  
“Sarah, I need you!”  
She jerked in her seat at the unexpected call from the very friend she was thinking of. Hoggle was usually content to let her call on him. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time when he had ever been the one to come to her.  
Rising from her seat she made her way to the bathroom to find Hoggle standing with his hands pressed against the opposite side of the mirror on her medicine cabinet.  
“Sarah we have trouble!” Hoggle barked when he saw her. “We needs you.”  
“We…?”  
XX  
Several minutes later after trying to wrap her mind around everything and Hoggle looking like he was ready to drop telling her they needed to move out the discussion was taken to the kitchen.  
“I heard what you said Hoggle,” Sarah grimaced feeling a headache come on as she took the whistling kettle off the stove top while the dwarf threw his hands up in the air. “But I need a minute to process this. Just start from the beginning while I fix us a snack.”  
Hoggle sighed and took a seat at the kitchen table.  
“Like I says. Sir Didymus came to find me while I’m weeding the snapdragons the other day saying the castle’s been thrown into chaos. Er more so then usual.”  
“So, we go pay a visit to find the goblins have turned the place upside down just tearing everything apart. When we finally ask one of the little buggers what’s going on he just starts well crying that Jareth’s disappeared.”  
Sarah paused as she measured out tea leaves, her grip on the strainer tightening as Hoggle went on.  
“Since Didymus and I were a little more rational we thought it best to tell them we’d find the rat and went up to his majesty’s chambers. At least that seemed to raise their spirits some.”  
He paused and looked over at Sarah who was noticeably a shade or two paler.  
“Hoggle you’re starting to freak me out,” Sarah whispered feeling an icy ball of fear in the pit of her belly. There was no love lost between Jareth and Hoggle yet even he was worried.  
“It was bad Sarah. Goblins can’t get up the stairs because of the king’s enchantments so when we got there and saw his room torn apart,” he said shuddering. “There were feathers everywhere and all we found of him were a few pieces of hair and his clothes shredded.”  
Sarah inhaled sharply and worked to calm herself.  
“How long?” she whispered pushing herself away from the counter to pace the kitchen slowly.  
“So far as we could get out of the goblins it’s been a week or two,” he admitted as her hands clenched.  
“I wish the Goblin King would come to me right now!” she blurted as fear coursed through her system.  
She waited and heard no approaching storm nor any scurrying of goblins in her home. Inhaling she licked her dry lips.  
“I wish the Goblins would come and take me away. Right now…” she whispered desperately, wishing with everything she had, concentrating and breathing deep.  
The apartment was still but birds still chirped outside, cars drove by, and the world kept going.  
“Oh no….” Sarah said sinking heavily into the chair opposite Hoggle running her hands through her hair. “Hoggle…what have I done?”  
“You haven’t done nothing,” he said looking at her in mild alarm. “Just take it easy little lady.”  
“I just…I should have told him that I needed him too,” she murmured shaking her head. “It was true I needed you all but I don’t think he ever realized I meant him too. Now it’s too late and God what if he’s hurt or…”  
“Sarah,” Hoggle said firmly as he looked at his friend. Waterworks from the Champion of the Labyrinth wouldn’t help right now. She was filled with such regret and dread it was hard to pretend to be calm.  
“I know it’s a big shock to you but Jareth’s one of the fae. He’s alive,” he told her with such certainty she let her shoulders slump a little. “With you, me, and Didymus searching for him we’re bound to bring him back in no time right?”  
She felt a small reluctant smile tugging at her lips.  
“Right.”


End file.
